The present invention relates to disposable containers for hospital sharps and waste, and pertains particularly to a secure mounting assembly for disposable containers for disposition of hospital sharps, objects and wastes.
Hospitals and medical clinics use great quantities of sharps, such as needles, syringes, surgical blades, and the like, that are disposed of rather than cleaned and reused. It is necessary that the sharps be disposed of in a manner that prevents them being reused without sterilization. In particular, it is necessary to keep them from falling into the hands of those, such as intravenous drug users and the like, who are likely to use them without proper sterilization.
Numerous containers have been developed in recent years, which are reasonably secure and disposable for receiving and disposing of hospital sharps, wastes and the like. While improved containers have been developed which cannot readily be reopened and articles cannot be easily removed therefrom, such containers must be kept in a secure place or securely mounted to non-removable structure to prevent unauthorized removal. The disposable container and its mounting bracket must not only be secure, it must be simple and inexpensive to manufacturer, and it must be simple and easy to use and to mount and remove the container.
Reasonably secure mounting brackets have been recently developed and are widely used to prevent unauthorized removal of the containers. An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,997 issued Apr. 4, 1992 and assigned to the Assignee hereof. However, these type brackets are typically mounted on walls or similar surfaces and are securely anchored by lag bolts and the like. The installation of a new bracket normally requires the services of a skilled workman with special tools.
Many hospitals and clinics have begun using service outlet wall and rail systems such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,211 issued Feb. 24, 1987 to Gallant et al. to provide convenient facilities for patient monitoring and treatment instruments and equipment. These rail systems provide convenient mounting for various instruments and equipment and service connections for these for patient treatment and monitoring.
It is, therefore, desirable that an improved secure mounting bracket assembly for disposable containers be available for mounting to existing rail systems.